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Texas and National Disability Timeline 1835- 2009

This timeline contains mostly Texas information and is meant to capture the highlights of each year, not provide a complete history. National and international history is included when it impacted people in Texas.

(The Texas Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities updates this history yearly and periodically to denote new information and to add to its history as events occur.)

1835

Samuel McCulloch, a man who was a free black, becomes the first Texan casualty of the revolution resulting in a disability when a musket ball shatters his right shoulder.

Irish-born Thomas William ("Peg Leg") Ward ventured to Texas in 1835 to fight in the Texas Revolution, but in his first day of action his right leg was hit by Mexican cannon fire and amputated. Four years later he lost his right arm to cannon fire in an accident. Though confronted with an unending problem of mobility and tormented by pain in his residual leg. Ward's public career spanned three decades and a multiplicity of responsibilities—military officer, three-time mayor of Austin, presidential appointments as U.S. Consul to Panama and a federal customs official in Texas—but it was as Texas land commissioner during the 1840s that he particularly made his mark. At a time when land was the principal asset of the Texas republic and a magnet for immigrants, he fought to remedy the land system's many defects and to fulfill the promise of free land to those who settled and fought for Texas. If Ward had a remarkable career, his life was nonetheless troubled by symptoms comparable to those experienced by war veterans diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder—a hair-trigger temper, an impulse to violence, and marital discord.

1836

President David Burnet names Peter Grayson, who had a mental illness, Attorney General of the Republic of Texas.

First Congress of the Republic elects Robert "Three-Legged Willy" Williamson county judge of the Third Judicial District, making him a member of the Supreme Court.

Jesse Billingsly, who received a permanent injury to his hand in the Battle of San Jacinto, serves in the House of Representatives of the First Congress of the Republic.

Greenburry Logan, a man who was a free black soldier, is wounded at the siege of Bexar causing a permanent disability.

Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities 512-463-5739 September 23, 2010

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1838 Charles Baudin's French Naval forces aid the young Republic of Texas by attacking the

citadel San Juan de Ulloa. He had lost his right arm in battle in 1808.

1840 Henry Augustine, an amputee as a result of the Cherokee War, serves in the House of the

Congress of the Republic; by a special act of this Congress he receives a wooden leg.

Robert Williamson, who used a wooden leg since one leg was drawn back at the knee, serves in Congress and later in the Texas Senate.

1841 Dorothea Dix begins her work on behalf of people with disabilities incarcerated in jails and

poorhouses.

1843 Henry Augustine, an amputee, serves on the Board of Trustees, San Augustine University.

1847 Welborn Barton, who had a physical disability from childhood, practices medicine, serves as

a Mason, was a trustee of Salado College, and teaches Sunday school.

1851 Oliver Cromwell Hartley, who was disabled, is elected to represent Galveston in the state

Legislature.

1853 Elisha M. Pease is elected Governor. He would later establish funds for a hospital for the

mentally ill and schools for the deaf and blind.

1856 The Texas Deaf and Dumb Asylum, now the Texas School for the Deaf, begins with 3

students. The Blind Asylum begins with 3 students.

1857 The State Lunatic Asylum, now Austin State Hospital opens with about 50 patients.

1858 Last president of the Republic of Texas, Anson Jones, whose left arm was disabled by an

injury, dies at the age of 60.


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1859 Sam Houston becomes Governor of Texas. Houston battled with depression throughout his

life, and often grew a beard during his periods of darkness.

1860 The Braille system was introduced to America and was taught with some success at the St.

Louis School for the Blind.

1861 The American Civil War (1861 - 1865) - 30,000 amputations in the Union Army alone.

1864 Alois Alzheimer, who first described the disease which was named for him, was born.

1864 President Abraham Lincoln signs an act that enables the Columbia Institution for the Deaf

and Dumb the authority to confer college degrees, making it the first college in the world established for people with disabilities.

Gallaudet University begins.

1865 The Civil War causes 30,000 amputations in the Union Army alone.

1868 Friedrich Miescher, biochemist with a hearing impairment, discovered nuclein, the material

now known as DNA.

1872 Alexander G. Bell opened speech school for teachers of the deaf in Boston.

1875 Matthew D. Ector, former Confederate general whose leg was amputated in 1864, serves on

the Court of Appeals.

1876 A patent for the telephone (No. 174,465) is issued to Alexander Graham Bell. The telephone

was one of the many devices Bell developed in support of his work with the deaf.


http://www.hotbraille.com/

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1878 William Walsh, who was severely injured in the Civil War and required the use of a crutch,

serves as Land Commissioner.

George McCormick, whose leg was amputated during the Civil War, serves as Attorney General.

J.W. Smith invents American Modified Braille.

1879 John Bell Hood dies at the age of 48. Hood was a Confederate general during the Civil War

who lost his right leg as well as the use of his left arm while in battle. He gained fame by commanding Hood's Texas Brigade, "perhaps the finest brigade of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia."

1883 Sir Francis Galton in England coins the term eugenics to describe his pseudo-science of

“improving the stock” of humanity. The eugenics movement, taken up by Americans, leads to passage in the United States of laws to prevent people with disabilities from moving to this country, marrying, or having children. In many instances, it leads to the institutionalization and forced sterilization of disabled people, including children. Eugenics campaigns against people of color and immigrants lead to passage of “Jim Crow” laws in the South and legislation restricting immigration by southern and eastern Europeans, Asians, Africans, and Jews.

1884 John B. Hood Camp of United Confederate Veterans opens to provide a home for disabled

and indigent veterans.

1885 North Texas Lunatic Asylum, now Terrell State Hospital opens.

William Hardin, unofficial advisor to the Alabama-Coushatta Indians and soldier who was disabled at San Antonio during the Texas Revolution, dies at the age of 79.

1886 The Bluebonnet Association of the Deaf begins, later renamed the Texas Association of the

Deaf.

Herman Hollerith thought of the idea to use punched cards to keep and transport information, a technology used up to the late 1970s. Those punched cards were read electronically: the cards were transported between brass rods, and when there were holes


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in the cards, the rods made contact and an electric current could flow. This device was constructed to allow the 1890 census to be tabulated. This construction meant a great improvement as hand tabulation was projected to take more than a decade. They called this little invention, the computer.

1887 The Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Institute for Colored Youth begins.

1892 Southwestern Lunatic Asylum opens, later the San Antonio State Hospital.

Pattillo Higgins, who experienced a wound at the age of 17 that led to an amputation of his arm, incorporates the Gladys City Oil, Gas, and Manufacturing Company with partner George Washington O'Brien. The men hoped to find oil atop Spindletop Hill in Beaumont despite popular opinion that the Gulf Coast region lacked any oil potential.

1894 Thomas Gore, who was blind, practices law in Corsicana, later campaigns for the Populist

and Democratic parties, and then serves in Congress representing Oklahoma.

1902 Goodwill Industries began. Dr. Edgar J. Helms, young, idealistic, energetic, socially-minded

minister, was years ahead of modern medicine and psychology when he took up the challenge of Boston's miserable South-End slums and founded Goodwill Industries in 1902. Dr. Helms, a preacher, recognized the therapeutic value of work. He saw in a job the first step in returning society's outcasts to normal, useful, happy community living.

Helen Keller publishes her first autobiography, The Story of My Life.

1903 Lou Gehrig born.

1904 A colony for the epileptic insane, now the Abilene State School begins serving 100 patients.

Helen Keller graduates from Radcliffe College.

1909 The first folding wheelchairs are introduced for people with mobility disabilities.


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1912 Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Party endorse social insurance, including health

insurance, as part of its platform.

1914 Jonas Salk, developer of the Salk polio vaccine, born.

1916 Joseph Mansfield, a wheelchair user, represents Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives

and serves as a vestryman in the Episcopal Church.

1917 State School for the Feeble Minded, now the Austin State School opens with 65 female

students.

1918 Texas State Library provides raised-letter books for persons who are blind.

1919 The Rusk Penitentiary becomes a hospital for the "Negro Insane."

1920 Congress passes The Federal Vocational Rehabilitation Act providing services for persons

with disabilities.

1921 The Disabled American Veterans (World War) forms in Fort Worth.

The Sheppard-Towner Act passed which provided matching funds to states for prenatal and child health centers. The Act was not reauthorized when it expired in 1929.

1922 The Northwest Insane Asylum, now Wichita Falls State Hospital opens.

Adam Rankin Johnson, Confederate general and blinded during the Civil War, dies at the age of 88.

1923 Department of Texas, Disabled American Veterans, World War I, forms.


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1926 "Blind Willie" Johnson, Texas blues performer, begins recording for Columbia Records.

1927 Franklin Roosevelt co-founds the Warms Springs Foundation at Warms Springs, Georgia.

The Warm Spring facility for polio survivors becomes a model rehabilitation and peer-counseling program.

1929 Texas Legislature passes the Texas Vocational Rehabilitation Act beginning the State Board

of Vocational Education, now the Texas Rehabilitation Committee, with a staff of two and budget of $12,500.

First Prepaid Hospital Insurance Plan introduced: An official at Baylor University Hospital in Dallas noticed that Americans, on average, were spending more on cosmetics than on medical care. "We spend a dollar or so at a time for cosmetics and do not notice the high cost," he said. "The ribbon-counter clerk can pay 50 cents, 75 cents or $1 a month, yet it would take about 20 years to set aside [money for] a large hospital bill." The Baylor hospital started looking for a way to get regular folks in Dallas to pay for health care the same way they paid for lipstick — a tiny bit each month. Hospital officials started small, offering a deal to a group of public school teachers in Dallas. They offered a plan for the teachers to pay 50 cents each month in exchange for Baylor picking up the tab on hospital visits. When the Great Depression hit, almost every hospital in the country saw its patient load disappear. The Baylor idea became hugely popular. It eventually got a name: Blue Cross.

Seeing Eye establishes the first dog guide school for blind people in the United States.

1931 Texas Legislature creates the State Committee for the Blind with a volunteer staff, and later

budgets $8,250 which was used to hire home teachers located in six Texas cities.

The Farmers Union Cooperative Association, generally considered to be the first health maintenance organization with a flat fee for members, is formed in Elk City, Oklahoma.

1933 Wiley Post, blind in one eye, becomes the first solo flyer to circle the earth.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt serves 1st term as President.

1934 Austin State School Farm Colony for Men for persons with mental retardation begins.


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Roosevelt’s Committee on Economic Security addresses medical care and insurance. After considering, but then backing away from, a national health insurance program as part of the New Deal, President Franklin D. Roosevelt creates the Committee on Economic Security, in part to address medical care and insurance issues. However, private insurance companies begin to sell hospitalization insurance.

1935 Alcoholics Anonymous begins.

Dr. Alexis Carrel, a Nobel Prize winner, publishes Man the Unknown in which he suggests the removal of the mentally ill and the criminal by small euthanasia institutions.

Social Security Act includes grants for maternal and child health: Congress passes the Social Security Act, which includes grants for maternal and child health but omits health insurance.

The first compulsory health insurance bill was introduced in Congress. It does not pass.

1936 Passage of the Randolph Sheppard Act establishes a federal program for employing blind

vendors at stands in the lobbies of federal office buildings.

1937 Gonzales Warm Springs Foundation for Crippled Children begins serving children with

polio. Curtis Veach of Childress, Texas becomes first Texan to receive a Seeing Eye dog.

1938 The Federal Technical Committee on Medical Care, a joint effort of the Children’s Bureau,

the U.S. Public Health Service, and the Social Security Board, publishes, “The Need for a National Health Program,” arguing for comprehensive health care reform. The committee’s recommendations—for expanding public health services, making grants to the states for the construction of hospitals and the implementation of medical care programs, and providing disability compensation—becomes the focus of a National Health Conference.

1939 Department of Public Welfare begins, known today as the Department of Human Services.

Big Spring State Hospital begins.

Dallas Society for Crippled Children opens, later becoming the Easter Seal Society for Children.


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Hitler orders widespread "mercy killing" of the sick and disabled, code named Aktion T4, which accounts for almost a hundred thousand deaths before being "suspended." However, it actually continued using drugs and starvation instead of gassing.

First Blue Shield plans were organized by physicians, designed to cover the costs of physician care.

A National Health Bill Introduced in the US Senate: The National Health Bill called the “Wagner Bill,” is introduced in the Senate and incorporated such recommendations of the 1938 National Health Conference as the institution of compulsory health insurance. The proposal did not reach the Senate floor.

1940 The National Federation of the Blind is formed in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, by Jacobus

Broek and other blind advocates. It advocates for “white cane laws” and input by blind people into programs for blind clients, among other reforms.

The American Federation of the Physically Handicapped is founded by Paul Strachan as the nation’s first cross-disability, national political organization. It pushes for an end to job discrimination and lobbies for passage of legislation calling for a National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week, among other initiatives.

1941 Laurence Melton, an amputee, becomes national commander, Disabled American Veterans,

and later secures an executive order from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt for government agencies to cooperate in the hiring of the physically handicapped which later became the President's Committee for the Hiring of the Handicapped.

Helen Keller addressed a joint session of the Texas Legislature about the need for service for the blind, which was said to contribute to the growth and development of the Commission.

1942 Henry Viscardi begins his work as an American Red Cross volunteer, training 1944 disabled

soldiers to use their prosthetic limbs. His work at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., draws the attention of Howard Rusk and Eleanor Roosevelt, who protest when Viscardi’s program is terminated by the Red Cross and the military.

1943 Congress expands the Vocational Rehabilitation Act to include persons with hidden

disabilities such as mental health and mental retardation.


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Wagner-Murray-Dingell Bill is introduced, proposing universal comprehensive health insurance. Congress takes no action.

Texas Governor Coke Stevenson’s Proclamation for National Hearing Week

1944 James Fields wounded and rendered speechless, leads his depleted army platoon using

hand signals, scatters the enemy, and later becomes an independent oil operator.

The Social Security Board calls for compulsory national health insurance as part of Social Security.

1945 National Employment of the Physically Handicapped Week begins.

President Harry S. Truman’s 10 year plan calls for compulsory health coverage and doubling the number of doctors and nurses nationwide. The American Medical Association warns of “socialized medicine.”

1946 Mexia State School begins.

The film "The Best Years of Our Lives" premieres; Harold Russell later wins an Academy Award. He lost both hands in a wartime accident.

The Hill- Burton Act funds construction of hospitals and a revised Wagner-Murray-Dingell bill is introduced again; an alternative Senate bill authorizes grants to states for medical care of the poor. Neither bill passes.

1947 Representative Jefferson Mansfield dies after 31 years of service in the United States

Congress; 27 of those years were served in a wheelchair following paralysis in 1920.

President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities begins.

Emerson Romero develops the first captioning of a film by putting captions between picture frames.

President Truman calls for a National Health Program.

1947 Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) is founded at the Birmingham Hospital in Van Nuys,

California, by Fred Smead, Randall Updykes, and other delegates from Veterans Administration hospitals across the country.


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The first meeting of the Presidents’ Committee on National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week is held in Washington, D.C. Its publicity campaigns, coordinated by state and local committees, emphasize the competence of people with disabilities and use movie trailers, billboards, and radio and television ads to convince the public that its “good business to hire the handicapped.”

1948 First Texas Mayors' Committee for People with Disabilities, Harris County Committee on the

Employment of People with Disabilities, begins.

The American Medical Association launches a campaign against National Health Insurance.

Governor Shivers proclaiming October 2-8, 1949 as “National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week,” in Texas

Deaf and hard of hearing people enjoy the first color open-captioned film America the Beautiful.

The Supreme Court upholds National Labor Relations Board ruling that employee health benefits can be included in collective bargaining.

1950 September 27, 1950, the Texas Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities is created

by Official Memo stating, “Governor Shivers today signed an official Memorandum designating the week of October 1-7 as National Employ the Physically Handicapped in Texas. At the same time he added four state officials to the statewide NEPD Committee headed by Harry B. Crozier, chairman of the Texas Employment Commission, and asked Mr. Crozier to secure representation on the committee from some 25 Texas organizations. Named to the committee were Charles L. Morris, executive director of the State Veterans’ Affairs Commission; Lon E. Alsup, executive secretary director of the State Commission for the Blind; J.J. Brown, director of the Vocational Rehabilitation Division of the Texas Education Agency, and John Ben Sheppard, Secretary of State. The Governor suggested that the presidents of the following organizations be asked to serve or the name representatives on the committee: Disabled American Veterans, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Amvets, Jewish War Veterans, Catholic War Veterans, Junior Chamber of Commerce, East Texas Chamber of Commerce, West Texas Chamber of Commerce, South Texas Chamber of Commerce, Texas Press Association, Texas Broadcasters Association, Texas Trade Association Executives, State Medical Association, Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs, Texas Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, State Tuberculosis Association, Texas State Federation of Labor, State CIO Council, State Farm Bureau and various civic clubs—Kiwanis, Exchange, Lions, Rotary, Civitan, Optimists.”


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The Association for Retarded Children of Texas forms by a group of concerned parents of children with mental retardation.

The Social Security Amendments of 1950 establish a federal-state program to aid the permanently and totally disabled (APTD). This is a limited prototype for later federal disability assistance programs such as Social Security Disability Insurance.

1951 Kerrville State Home opens.

Vernon State Home opens.

Texas Legislature places the Texas School for the Deaf under the Texas Education Agency where it claimed the distinction of being the oldest publicly funded school in continuous operation in Texas.

1952 Texas State Library adds talking book services for children who are blind.

The President’s Committee on National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week becomes the Presidents’ Committee on Employment of the Physically Handicapped, a permanent organization reporting to the President and Congress.

Henry Vicardi takes out a personal loan to found Abilities, Inc., a jobs training and placement program for people with disabilities.

1953 First heart lung machine is developed.

1954 United Cerebral Palsy of Texas organizes.

Linus Pauling receives Nobel Prize for his work in chemistry, later promotes decreasing incidence of genetic diseases by requiring everyone to be tested for such, and to be publicly identified if they are a carrier.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposes a federal reinsurance fund to enable private insurers to broaden health coverage.

The Revenue Act excludes employers’ contributions to employees’ health plan from taxable income.

The U.S. Supreme Court is Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, rules that separate schools for black and white children are inherently unequal and unconstitutional. This


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pivotal decision becomes a catalyst for the African-American civil rights movement, which in turn becomes a major inspiration to the disability rights movement.

Congress passes the Vocational Rehabilitation Amendments, authorizing federal grants to expand programs available to people with physical disabilities.

The Social Security Act of 1935 is amended by Pub. Law 83-761, which includes a “freeze” provision for workers who are forced by disability to leave the work force. This protects their benefits when they retire by not counting the years between the time they cease working and their retirement, thus freezing their retirement benefits at the pre-disability level.

1955 Criss Cole, who was blind, serves in the Texas House of Representatives.

Salk vaccine becomes viewed as "safe", potent and effective.

Harold Wilke becomes the founder and first executive director of the Commission on Religion and Health within the United Church of Christ General Synod in New York. In this capacity he works to open religious life and the ministry to women and people with disabilities. Mr. Wilke was on the signing podium at the ADA signing in July 1990 with President George Bush.

1956 Legislation is introduced in the House to provide health insurance for Social Security

beneficiaries. It fails but is reintroduced in 1959.

Dependents Medical Care program, later referred to as “Military Medicare,” is enacted which provided government health insurance for dependents of members of the Armed Forces.

1957 Texas Research Institute of Mental Sciences begins in Houston.

State Welfare Department adds Aid to Permanently and Totally Disabled.

1958 First Pacemaker introduced.

1959 The Goodwill Industries of Austin begins.


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Texas Institute for Rehabilitation and Research, an expansion of the Southwestern Poliomyelitis Respiratory Center, opens in Houston.

1960 Denton State School for persons with mental retardation begins.

Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan is initiated to provide coverage to federal workers.

Kerr-Mills Act provides federal funds for medical care for the poor and elderly. The Congress passed Kerr-Mills Act to assist state programs that offer medical care to the poor and elderly.

The first Paralympic Games, under the auspices of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) are held in Rome, Italy.

1961 The drug Thalidomide is found to cause birth defects.

John H. Griffin, disabled World War II veteran, publishes his best known work, Black Like Me.

1962 Lufkin State School and Rio Grande State Center for Human Development begin.

S.A. Kirk coins the term "learning disabilities."

National "Employ the Handicapped Week" name changes.

Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter, Little Persons of America begins.

A Presidential task force recommends that Social Security include health insurance for the elderly. Consequently, the King-Anderson bill is introduced to create a government health insurance program for the elderly; organized labor supports it; the American Medical Association and commercial health insurance carriers strongly oppose it. It does not pass.

1962 President John F. Kennedy gives a televised address on Medicare; the American Medical

Association issues a televised rebuttal.

The President’s Committee on Employment of the Physically Handicapped is renamed the President’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped, reflecting its increased interest in employment issues affecting people with cognitive disabilities and mental illness.


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1963 Criss Cole, who was blind, serves in the Texas Senate.

Shriners Hospitals for Crippled Children, Galveston Burns Institute opens.

Texan Justin Dart started Tupperware Japan with three employees and by 1965 had expanded to some 25,000 employees, with a focus on employing women and people with disabilities.

The King-Anderson bill is reintroduced which would provide healthcare to the elderly. It is again unsuccessful in Congress, but paves the way for Medicare and Medicaid.

President Kennedy, in an address to Congress, calls for a reduction, “over a number of years and by hundreds of thousands, (in the number) of persons confined” to residential institutions, and he asks that methods be found “to retain in and return to the community the mentally ill and mentally retarded, and there to restore and revitalize their lives through better health programs and strengthened educational and rehabilitation services.” Though not labeled such at the time, this is a call for deinstitutionalization and increased community services.

1964 Robert H. Weitbrecht invents the “acoustic coupler,” forerunner of the telephone modem,

enabling teletypewriter messages to be sent via standard telephone lines. This invention makes possible the widespread use of teletypewriters for the deaf (TDD’s now called TTY’s), offering deaf and hard-of-hearing people access to the telephone system.

1965 Texas Legislature creates the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation

(MHMR).

Mental Health Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County begins.

The Learning Disabilities Association of Texas forms including parents and professionals.

"Ironside" begins starring Raymond Burr using a wheelchair.

President Lyndon B. Johnson sings the Medicare and Medicaid programs into law.

Neighborhood health centers are established as part of the Office of Economic Opportunity.

1966 Texas Constitution allows the State vocational rehabilitation agencies to contract with

private providers


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Texas State Library Talking Book Program expands to Texans with certain physical disabilities.

Dallas County, Lubbock Regional, Amarillo Regional, Bexar County MHMR Centers, and El Paso Center for MHMR Services begin.

Concho Valley Center for Human Advancement (formerly MHMR Center for Greater West Texas) begins.

1967 Texas Legislature allows certain state colleges to offer an elective course in "dactylology"

(sign language).

Vocational rehabilitation extends services to persons with behavioral disorders.

Texas Committee for the Deaf begins.

First successful heart transplant.

Austin-Travis County Regional, Hidalgo County and Central Counties MHMR Centers begin.

Paul Moreno, a wheelchair user, serves in the Texas House of Representatives.

Social Security amendments pass, adding optional Medicaid categories to insure others who are not receiving cash assistance.

1968 Richmond State School and Amarillo State Center for Human Development MHMR open.

Regional Center of East Texas and Heart of Texas and Northeast Texas MHMR Centers open.

Patsy Smith, disabled as a result of childhood Polio, serves as first woman judge of the 72nd District Court.

The Architectural Barriers Act is passed, mandating that federally constructed buildings and facilities be accessible to people with physical disabilities. This act is generally considered to be the first ever-federal disability rights legislation.

First International Special Olympics Summer Games, held at Soldier Field in Chicago that summer.

1969 Texas Legislature requires certain public facilities to be accessible.

Texas Legislature creates the Texas Rehabilitation Committee as a separate state agency.


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Lubbock and San Angelo State Schools begin; Wichita Falls Community Center for MHMR Services, Tarrant County MHMR Services, Beaumont and Laredo State Centers for Human Development begin.

Easter Seal Society for Crippled Children and Adults of Bexar County begins.

Big Spring State Hospital begins Texas MHMR's first community outreach program.

Criss Cole, who was blind, becomes President Pro Tempore of the Texas Senate.

Nueces County MHMR Community Center begins.

Special Olympics of Texas begins.

Leon Payne, country and western singer and composer who was blinded in childhood, dies at the age of 52. George Jones would record a tribute album of Payne's songs in 1971.

1970 Central Plains Comprehensive Community MHMR Center, Sabine Valley Regional MHMR

Center, Gulf Bend MHMR Center and Corpus Christi State School begin.

Leander Rehabilitation Center begins.

1971 Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center for the blind opens.

Mobility Impaired Grappling Hurdles Together (MIGHT) begins at The University of Texas.

Abilene Regional MHMR Center begins.

Governor Preston Smith appoints the first Texas Developmental Disabilities Planning and Advisory Council.

President Richard M. Nixon backs a proposal requiring employers to provide a minimal level of insurance to employees. Senator Edward M Kennedy counters with a uniform single payer health care reform plan. Neither proposal passes.

1972 The 47-feet high scoreboard at Memorial Stadium at the University of Texas at Austin is

dedicated to Freddie Steinmark, who had his leg amputated and later died as a result of cancer. Steinmark was a defensive back for the Longhorns on their national championship football team of 1969.

Texan Barbara Jordan, who had MS, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.


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Julia Child's The French Chef is the first national broadcast of an open-captioned program, airing across the country on PBS.

More Social Security amendments pass, allowing people under 65 with long-term disabilities or end-stage renal disease to qualify for Medicare coverage.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, in Mills v. Board of Education, rules that the District of Columbia cannot exclude disabled children from the public schools. Similarly, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, in PARC v. Pennsylvania, strikes down various state laws used to exclude disabled children from the public schools. These decisions will be cited by advocates during the public hearings leading to passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. PARC in particular sparks numerous other right-to-education lawsuits and inspires advocates to look to the courts for the expansion of disability rights.

The Center for Independent Living (CIL) is founded in Berkeley, California. Generally recognized as the world’s first independent living center, the CIL sparks the worldwide independent living movement.

The Houston Cooperative Living Residential Project is established in Houston, Texas, becoming a model, along with the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley, for subsequent independent living programs.

1973 MHMR of Southeast Texas, Permian Basin Community Center for MHMR, and Gulf Coast

Regional MHMR Center begin.

Lynden Olsen, who was an amputee, serves in the Texas House of Representatives.

President Richard M. Nixon signs the Health Maintenance Organization Act which set aside $375 million to finance demonstration projects.

The first handicap parking stickers are introduced in Washington, D.C.

Passage of the Federal-Aid Highway Act authorizes federal funds to provide for construction of curb cuts.

1974 MHMR Center for Central Texas begins in Brownwood.

Travis County Services for the Deaf launches.

MHMR Authority of Brazos Valley, MHMR Services of Texoma, and Deep East Texas Regional MHMR Services begin.


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Texas State Library expands Talking Books services to certain persons with learning disabilities.

Brenham State School opens.

Reclamation, Inc., launches for self-advocacy by persons with mental illness.

ERISA, Employee Retirement Income Security Act is passed which exempted self-insured employers from state health insurance regulations.

1975 The Coalition for Barrier-Free Living begins in Houston.

"Spectrum: Focus on Deaf Artists" starts in Austin.

El Paso State Center opens.

First handicapped parking ID sold.

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Pub. Law 94-142) is passed, establishing the right of children with disabilities to a public school education in an integrated environment. The act is a cornerstone of federal disability rights legislation. In the next two decades, millions of disabled children will be educated under its provisions, radically changing the lives of people in the disability community.

The American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities is founded. It becomes the preeminent national cross-disability rights organization of the 1970s, pulling together disability rights groups representing blind, deaf, physically disabled, and developmentally disabled people. It hires Frank Bowe as its first executive director, begins a major study of the current status of Americans with disabilities.

1976 Austin Special Transit begins.

Fort Worth State School opens.

Texas White House Conference on the Handicapped convenes in Austin.

Southwest Wheelchair Athletic Association forms.

Federal Communications Committee reserves Line 21 on television sets for closed captions.

Texan Barbara Jordan, who was diagnosed with MS in the early 1970’s, gave the Keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.


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President Jimmy Carter is elected president and calls for comprehensive national health insurance with universal and mandatory coverage.

1977 Texas sells first handicapped parking stickers for license plates.

Pecan Valley MHMR Center begins in Stephenville.

Association for Individuals with Disabilities begins in Dallas.

Travis County Council for the Deaf launches.

Independent Living Research Utilization begins.

Secretary of Health Education and Welfare (HEW) signs Federal 504 Regulations, after a sit-in in by persons with disabilities in nine cities. When FBI agents prevented people from leaving the HEW building in Washington D.C., a person who was deaf signed out the window to another person who was deaf and he communicated with the media.

Congress passes the Targeted Jobs Tax Credit, encouraging employment of people with disabilities.

Advocacy, Inc. starts.

White House Conference on the Handicapped convenes in Washington D.C.

1978 San Antonio State School opens.

Coalition of Texans with Disabilities forms.

ADAPT demands lifts on buses in Denver.

Launch, Inc. starts for self-advocacy of adults with learning disabilities.

1979 Texas Legislature recognizes American Sign Language as a language that may be taught in

public schools or state colleges.

Texas Legislature establishes the Southwest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf.

Navarro County MHMR Center begins in Corsicana.

Leander State Center opens.

Waco Center for Youth comes under direction of Texas MHMR.


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Austin Resource Center for Independent Living forms.

Governor's Committee issues the first awards for employment of people with disabilities.

First documented case of AIDS.

"Facts of Life" premieres; Geri Jewell, an actress with cerebral palsy, sometimes appears on this show.

Marilyn Hamilton, Jim Okamoto, and Don Helman produce their “Quickie” lightweight-folding wheelchair revolutionizing manual wheelchair design.

1980 Austin City Council names February 21 "Charles S. Eskridge Day" in honor of his work for

the mentally ill and mentally retarded.

Houston Center for Independent Living begins.

Southwest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf begins instruction.

Texas Advocates begins - first Texas self-advocacy organization for persons with mental retardation.

Tony McGregor, an artist who is deaf, wins honor from the Austin Chamber of Commerce.

Blind Lemon Jefferson is inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame.

Miller Reese invents electric hearing aid.

Sears, Roebuck & Co. sells television decoders for closed captioning.

1981 Texas celebrates International Year of Disabled Persons (IYDP) by nominating Pat Pound

and Allen B. Clark, Jr. to receive awards at a special gala at the Baltimore Convention Center in Maryland.

Edna Marie Moore, noted Texas artist, donates a bluebonnet picture to the state in honor of the IYDP. She was a wheelchair user.

San Antonio Independent Living Services forms.

Victor Galloway becomes the first deaf superintendent at the Texas School for the Deaf.

Texas Head Injury Association forms later becoming the Brain Injury Association of Texas.

Texas Legislature starts the nations' first interpreter certification program to provide qualified sign language interpreters to serve the state's deaf population.


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Andrew Foster, who was the founder of the Negro Baseball League and had mental illness, is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Federal budget reconciliation requires states to make additional Medicaid payments to hospitals that serve a disproportionate share of low-income patients.

1982 Governor's Committee publishes a report of a transportation barriers questionnaire.

1983 Texas Legislature prohibits employment discrimination against persons with disabilities.

Texas Legislature creates the Texas Planning Council for Developmental Disabilities.

Texas Legislature provides increased access to polling places for people with disabilities.

Governor's Committee presents first Barbara Jordan Awards for excellence in communicating the realities of persons with disabilities.

Texans, Justin Dart, Pat Pound, Dennis Dildy, Larry Johnson and Virgina Roberts created a 19 page document called, The National Policy for Persons with Disabilities for Governor Bill Clements which would eventually form the basis of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Texas Diabetes Council begins.

Dallas Center for Independent Living opens.

National ADAPT organizes to secure access on buses.

World Institute on Disability launches.

Medicare introduces Diagnostic Related Groups (DRGs) as a prospective payment system for hospitals.

1984 Texas Alliance for the Mentally Ill begins.

Arnett Cobb, disabled as a result of a car crash, shares a Grammy with B.B. King for best traditional blues performance.

President Reagan issues National Policy for Persons with Disabilities.

Congress passes Federal Voting Accessibility Act.


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President's Committee begins services to employers, called the Job Accommodation Network.

Advocacy, Inc. files a federal complaint against Southwest Airlines for denying a woman who was deaf-blind the right to fly unaccompanied.

1985 Texas Association of the Deaf celebrates its centennial convention in Austin.

Texas Cancer Council begins.

Disability Rally Day convenes at the State Capitol.

Governor's Committee co-sponsors Disabled Hispanic Texans: Rehabilitation & Employment Conference.

1986 Dallas Mayor's Committee for the Employment of People with Disabilities awards first

annual scholarship for individuals with disabilities.

Congress passes the Air Carrier Access Act.

Disabled Women's Political Caucus forms in Washington, D.C.

Nellie Moone of San Francisco stops a city bus with her crutch until a lift equipped bus is sent.

Texan Justin Dart was appointed to the head of the Rehabilitation Services Administration.

Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act require hospitals participating in Medicare to screen and stabilize anyone using their emergency room, regardless of the ability to pay.

COBRA, Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act allows employees who lose their jobs to continue with their health plan for 18 months.

1987 Texas Legislature creates a pilot attendant care delivery system, allowing individuals with

disabilities to supervise their own attendants.

Austin City Council passes a Disability Rights Ordinance.

Secretary of Transportation rules that Southwest Airlines discriminated against a deaf-blind person who was not allowed to fly independently.


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Marlee Matlin (hearing impaired) wins an Oscar for her performance in "Children of a Lesser God."

1988 Time magazine publishes a letter from Governor's Committee for Disabled Persons vice

chairperson Kathy Weldon commending Gallaudet University's students for urging to have a president who is deaf.

Texas Mental Health Consumers begins.

300 people parade in Dallas to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that includes equal rights in Section 504.

First volunteer parking enforcement program starts through efforts of Beaumont Mayor's Committee.

Congress expands National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

Congress passes Fair Housing Act.

Grupo Dignidad, Igualidad y Oportunidad (Dignity, Equality and Opportunity Group) begins.

Dr. I. King Jordan becomes first hearing impaired President of Gallaudet University.

Texan Justin Dart is appointed co-chair of the Congressional Task Force on Rights and Empowerment of Americans with Disabilities.

Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act expands Medicare coverage to include prescription drugs and a cap on beneficiaries’ out of pocket expenses; act is repealed the following year.

1989 Texas Legislature allows public schools to give language credit for American Sign Language.

Texas Legislature establishes Relay Texas to provide telephone access for persons who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or speech-impaired.

Texas athlete Todd Freeland competes in the Oita International Wheelchair Marathon in Japan.

Congress passes Hearing Aid Compatibility Act, making telephones accessible for hearing aid users.

"Life Goes On" with actor Christopher Burke, who has Down Syndrome, airs on ABC.

Texan Justin Dart is appointed chair of the President’s Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities.


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1990 President George H. W. Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act at the largest bill

signing ceremony ever on the White House grounds.

TV movie "When You Remember Me," about the formative years of ADAPT and the disability movement, airs on ABC.

Disability Policy Consortium forms.

1991 Texas Legislature moves the Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities into the

Office of the Governor. Texas Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities was created statutorily June 15th, 1991 by Senate Bill 381 in order to continue the functions of the Council on Disabilities, a separate entity, which was abolished on the recommendation of the Sunset Commission.

Texas Legislature requires sellers of lottery tickets to comply with the ADA.

Texas Legislature requires textbooks to be available in electronic format to facilitate Braille translation and provides for Braille instruction for students who are blind.

Texas Association of Mayors' Committees for People with Disabilities organizes.

Governor's Committee in conjunction with the Dallas Mayor's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities hosts the largest ever President's Committee national conference in Dallas with more than 6,000 attending.

Texas Deaf Caucus forms.

ADA Texas forms through efforts of the Texas Rehabilitation Committee and the Governor's Committee to train employers, people with disabilities and service providers about the ADA.

"Reasonable Doubt" starring Marlee Matlin (hearing impaired) premiered on NBC.

1992 Governor's Committee publishes "From Institutions to the Community" recommending how

the state can increasingly serve Texans with disabilities in their local communities.

First disabled parking placard sold.

Governor Ann Richards announces the closing of the Fort Worth and Travis State Schools.

Texas Assistive Technology Partnership begins.

Jeff Kurz, a Gallaudet University student, becomes the first hearing impaired athlete to be named Scholar-Athlete by the National Football Foundation.


http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=72R&Bill=SB381

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1993 Texas Legislature establishes a birth defects registry and creates financial incentives for

teaching students with disabilities in the regular classroom.

Texas Legislature expands the architectural barriers law to all buildings covered by the ADA and increases accessibility of private polling places.

Capital Metro in Austin equips all buses with wheelchair lifts.

Barbara Jordan presents the Barbara Jordan Media Awards for the first (and only) time.

Governor's Committee presents First Governor's Trophy to Dik Johnson.

John Hockenberry, national news correspondent and a wheelchair user, joins ABC's "Day One."

Sewering, an SS member and lung specialist in Germany who sent a 14 year old girl with tuberculosis to be gassed, becomes president-elect of the World Physicians Association. Protests force him to resign.

WGBH/The Caption Center devises the Rear Window Captioning System to display captions on movie screens using a system to display the captions in reverse at the back of the theater which are then reflected at the seat.

President Bill Clinton convenes White House Task Force on Health Reform and appoints First Lady Hillary Clinton as chair.

President Clinton’s proposal, the Health Security Act, is introduced in Congress but gains little support.

Other national health reform proposals—including McDermott-Wellstone single payer health insurance proposal and Cooper proposal for managed competition—are introduced in Congress but fail to pass.

1994 Texas adopts the Texas Accessibility Standards.

1995 Governor George W. Bush appoints Greg Abbott to the Texas Supreme Court, the first

person who uses a wheelchair to serve on Texas' highest court.

Texas Legislature renamed the Texas Committee for the Deaf the Texas Committee for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.


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First monetary penalties assessed for inaccessibility under the Texas Architectural Barriers Act.

Mattel markets first Barbie doll in a wheelchair and later modifies her house.

Quaker Oats and M.I.T. pay $1.85 million to more than 100 former residents of the Fernald State School in Massachusetts who were fed radiation-spiked cereal in nutrition experiments during the 1940's and 1950's without consent of their parents.

1996 Governor's Committee publishes the first booklet describing key Texas laws affecting

persons with disabilities.

Texas Accessibility Standards become equivalent to federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines.

Congress passes the Telecommunication Act of 1996 requiring captioning and telecommunication access.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act passes, restricting insurers’ ability to deny coverage because of preexisting conditions, setting privacy standards, and establishing tax-favored treatment for long-term care insurance.

Mental Health Parity Act prohibits group health plans from having lower annual or lifetime dollar limits for most mental health benefits than for medical or surgical benefits.

1997 Governor's Committee reports first data about State employees with disabilities.

Texas law provides for telecommunications or other adaptive devices to make telephone use accessible for persons with disabilities.

Governor's Committee presents the first Entrepreneurship Award to Chad Raney.

James A. Michener publishes his last book, A Century of Sonnets, after becoming a person with a disability.

Governor George W. Bush joins disability advocates urging that an additional statue depicting Franklin Delano Roosevelt using a wheelchair be erected.

Bill Clinton’s second presidential inauguration becomes the first inauguration to be simultaneously captioned live on television and the Internet.

Justice Greg Abbott makes comments on Capitol Day regarding the ADA and issues related to Texans with disabilities.


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Medicare+Choice or “Medicare Advantage,” is established. The Balance Budget Act changes provider payments to slow growth in Medicare spending and establishes Medicare+Choice program. It was renamed “Medicare Advantage,” in 2003.

State Children’s Health Insurance Program is enacted, providing block grants to states for coverage of low-income children.

1998 George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum opens in College Station including an

exhibit on the ADA.

Governor's Committee offers information on its new website.

U.S. Supreme Court hears first ADA case and finds on behalf of a person with AIDS who a dentist refused to treat in his office.

Justin Dart Jr., former chairman of the Governor's Committee, receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom in January from President William J. Clinton.

Lex Frieden, senior vice president at The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research, is named the Henry B. Betts Award laureate for his instrumental role in the development of the ADA

Casey Martin wins the right to use a golf cart as an accommodation for his disability based on the ADA.

Johnson & Johnson start clinical trials on a new gyro-balanced mobility system, intended to replace the wheelchair as we know it called “The IBot,” invented by Dean Kamen.

The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) FCC recently decided that the telecommunications industry must make pagers, cellular phones and other equipment and services easier for people with disabilities to use.

Citibank piloted and tested “talking” ATM machines.

In January, rules mandated in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 became effective regarding closed captioning.

The FCC adopted rules and policies to implement Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

The Texas Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities goes through the Sunset Process with the next scheduled review process in 2011.

1999 Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor and cycling champion from Austin, won the 1999 Tour

de France.


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Blue Mist, a band with members who are blind, played for one of Governor George W. Bush’s inaugural balls.

Texas Governor’s Committee issued the first-ever history of disabilities in Texas to celebrate its 50th anniversary—resulting in a New York Times article.

Kim Peek, the real “Rain Man”, who is a mega savant (not autistic), demonstrated his total recall abilities by responding to audience questions in Amarillo.

Texas State Senator Chris Harris, when interviewed about his dyslexia, stated he can read and write, but can’t read out loud from written material. “It’s just a blur,” he said.

Governor George W. Bush issued an Executive Order directing the improvement of community services for persons with disabilities.

Texas 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that most parts of churches must be accessible.

Texas Governor’s Committee staff participated in a John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts forum on employment of persons with disabilities in the arts.

First White House teleconference on mental health issues included an Austin satellite link.

Steven Hawking promoted global participation of persons with disabilities.

A man, who is blind, won at Jeopardy with the aid of a Braille list of the categories.

Congress passed the Work Incentives Improvement Act allowing more persons with disabilities to become employed by eliminating various disincentives.

President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities introduced a new website for small business and self-employment of persons with disabilities.

The World Wide Web Consortium released “Web Content Accessibility Guidelines”.

National Council on Disability published recommendations regarding air travel and persons with disabilities.

Governor George W. Bush releases an Executive Order, GWB 99-2 relating to Community Based Alternatives for People with Disabilities.

2000 Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor and cycling champion from Austin, won the 2000 Tour

de France. It is his second consecutive victory.

President George H.W. Bush presented medals at a ceremony in Houston; and Governor’s Committee Chairman James L. Caldwell together with former Governor’s Committee


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Executive Director Virginia Roberts participated in a torch relay in Austin celebrating the 10th anniversary of the ADA.

The FCC adopted rules requiring all telecommunications carriers nationwide to implement 7-1-1 as the permanent nationwide number for all telecommunications relay service calls.

Texas implemented 7-1-1 service in October.

A student from Texas A&M University who acquired a disability after the collapse of the A&M Bonfire took classes over the Internet while in rehabilitation in Dallas.

The National Association of State Information Resource Executives honored the State of Texas with the annual recognition award for its efforts to increase Internet accessibility for people with disabilities.

Jack Kilby, a Texan with a hearing loss, won the Nobel Prize for an invention of a microchip.

During the 2000 election season, some blind and visually impaired voters will be able to cast their ballots in private for the first time using an electronic voting system called eSlate, developed by Hart Inter Civic of Austin, Texas.

Governor George W. Bush appointed Greg Abbott, an accomplished attorney who uses a wheelchair to the Texas Supreme Court.

Texan Norman Brinker, who started from scratch and built a chain of more than 1,000 casual-dining restaurants, retires as chairman of Brinker International. Mr. Brinker was severely injured during a polo match in 1993 and doctors thought he might not emerge from a coma.

Kristen Jones a Houston College student with a disability served as a White House intern, working in the office of Public Liaison.

2001 Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation created an online database of accessible

buildings in Texas. The new database contains a search function that allows people to check whether businesses, schools, and other buildings in their neighborhoods or across the State comply with the Texas Accessibility Standards.

Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor, wins 3rd consecutive Tour de France.

2002 The Lance Armstrong Foundation educated lawmakers and the public about the needs of

cancer survivors. The Foundation donated tandem bikes to children with visual impairments. The Associated Press names Lance Armstrong, “Male Athlete of the Year”.


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President George W. Bush appointed Texans Lex Frieden and Pat Pound to serve on the National Council on Disability; Mr. Frieden is named chair.

C-SPAN aired a celebration of life service held in the memory of Justin W. Dart, Jr., a Texan known for his great advocacy.

Governor Rick Perry issued an Executive Order for state agencies to promote community-based alternatives for persons with disabilities.

Attorney General John Cornyn affirmed Advocacy, Inc.’s access to the records of persons with mental illness or developmental disabilities and also affirmed the privacy of disability information of people taking exams given by licensing agencies.

Federal approval allowed for Texans with disabilities to choose and contract for Medicaid and community-based services through a new Texas plan.

Public Utility Commission rolled out Speech-to-Speech as an additional relay service for persons with speech disabilities, and an easy 711 number is now available to reach relay services.

Harris, Tarrant and Travis counties used accessible electronic voting machines in recent elections. A Texas bank installed talking ATM machines.

As a result of the U.S. Department of Justice review, the City of San Antonio improved access to the Riverwalk and other city facilities and services.

The Health and Human Services Commission issued grants to improve telecommunication access for Texans with disabilities.

Texas Education Agency adopted rules about behavior management including positive training supports and training about de-escalation.

The Coalition of Texans with Disabilities announced “Team Everest 03”. An 18 member team of climbers with disabilities, led by Gary Guller, plans to climb to the 17,500 foot base camp of Mount Everest.

President George W. Bush launches Health Center Growth Initiative, expanding the number of community health centers for underserved populations.

2003 Austin climber Gary Guller becomes the first person with one arm to scale Mount Everest

gaining positive recognition of the abilities of people with disabilities through international press coverage.

National Council on Disability Chair, Lex Frieden, moderates a panel discussion on the importance of a United Nations convention on the human rights of people with disabilities.


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A Texas-based, international firm requires its advertising agency to use actors with disabilities as a result of viewing the Governor’s Committee’s “Scoop on Reporting about People with Disabilities”.

The Dallas Mayor’s Committee for the Employment of People with Disabilities participates in the International Labor Organization’s conference resulting in publication and promotion of “Managing Disability in the Workplace”. This annual event sets the international standards for labor and is attended by top representatives of 177 countries.

Texan, President George W. Bush signs a law allowing military retirees who have disabilities with 20 or more years of service and a VA disability rating of 50 percent or more to receive both VA disability and a 10-year phase in of retirement pay.

For the third year, Challenger Tee Ball teams compete as a part of the President’s White House Tee Ball Initiative, illustrating competence and accommodations for ball players with a variety of disabilities; The White House website features video of games.

The Waco-McLennan County Public Health District Worksite Wellness Training Program wins one of the first Innovation in Prevention Awards presented by HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson.

The Dallas County Department of Health and Human Services and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio receive National Eye Institute Healthy Vision 2010 funds for community-based eye health education and promotion programs.

A McNeil High School junior competes in Japan in the Oita International Wheelchair Marathon.

The University of Houston honors internationally known disability advocate, Justin W. Dart, Jr. by naming the new center for students with disAbilities, the “Live the Dream” center.

The W.W. Samuell High School Deaf Choir from Dallas signs the National Anthem in a pre-game performance at the nationally televised Thanksgiving Day Dallas Cowboy football game.

Governor Rick Perry creates the “OneStar Foundation” to promote volunteerism that meets Texans’ needs; he cites the Interfaith Care Partners for services, including respite care for individuals with disabilities.

The Texas Legislature creates penalties for use of fraudulent accessible parking placards, protects assistance animals from dog attacks, continues the Architectural Barriers Program, and allows individuals to place health information on driver’s licenses and ID cards.

Voters approve constitutional amendments allowing property tax exemptions and freezes for certain property owners with disabilities.


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The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation issues more than 4,700 “Access for All” decals to businesses achieving full facility access.

The State Board of Educator Certification sets new standards for first year special education teachers.

The first Texas Music license plate features “Blind” Lemon Jefferson for his significant contribution to the development of Texas music.

The Coalition of Texans with Disabilities makes history when its Team Everest climbers with disabilities reach Mount Everest base camp. As a result of recognition from the climb, CTD collaborates with AARP to create “livable communities” for people who are aging and people with disabilities starting with projects in El Paso and Corpus Christi.

The Governor’s Committee promotes implementation of recommendations in access, communication, education, health, housing, recreation, transportation, and workforce, and provides more than 53,000 individuals information about disability issues this year through phone calls, e-mails, letters, handouts, and coverage in the media.

Medicare Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act creates voluntary, subsidized prescription-drug benefits under Medicare and is administered through private plans.

Medicare legislation creates Health Savings Accounts, allowing people to set aside pre-tax dollars for medical expenses in conjunction with a high deductible health plan.

2004 Texan Lance Armstrong is the first cyclist to win six consecutive Tour de France titles.

Armstrong is a cancer survivor and his foundation, dedicated to cancer survivorship programs, expects to raise more than $21 million this year. Lance is selected as The Associated Press’ Male Athlete of the Year, for the third time.

Houston based Dynamic Orthotics & Prosthetics and Harris Methodist Hospital make and attach donated prosthetics for seven Iraqi amputees whose limbs were severed by Saddam Hussein’s government.

Native Texan and Deaflympics silver medalist, Bobbie Beth Scoggins, is a torchbearer for the Athens 2004 Olympic Torch Relay.

San Antonio hosts the Breast Cancer Symposium with more than 6,000 delegates from over 80 countries.

The University of Texas develops a toaster-sized device to help treat people with HIV in developing countries. It allows doctors in remote areas to quickly and cheaply conduct a key diagnostic test that until now required a huge and expensive machine.


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Texan Gary Guller who has only one arm, summits Mt. Cho Oyu in Tibet. Afterwards he meets with injured service men and women returning from Iraq at Brooks Army Medical Center.

Austin, Texas, ties with Bloomington, Indiana for third place in the National Organization on Disability’s Accessible America award program.

The Cooper Institute in Dallas participates in a National Institute on Aging study to learn how to prevent or delay age-related disability in people over age 70.

Texan Randy Snow, a Basketball, Tennis, and Track and Field Paralympian, is inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. He is the only athlete to compete in three Paralympic games in three different sports, and win medals in each.

Juliette Rizzo, graduate of University of North Texas, serves as Ms. Wheelchair America 2005.

A retired business owner from Victoria, who has diabetes, flew a 1976 Grumman Cheetah airplane from California to North Carolina in just under 15 hours, the fastest anyone has ever flown from the Pacific to the Atlantic oceans in one of these small aircrafts.

Suzanna Christy, a Baytown student who is deaf, signs the national anthem for pop singer Beyoncé Knowles at the Super Bowl in Houston.

Governor Rick Perry grants Robert Smith a commuted sentence to life imprisonment instead of death after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously recommended such action after he was found to be a person with developmental disabilities.

The Austin Mayor’s Committee on People with Disabilities provides unprecedented access to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport by posting a text map on the Internet describing the airport’s layout including gates, elevators, ATMs, restrooms and retail stores.

Bryan-College Station Mayors’ Committee on People with Disabilities hosts a demonstration of new accessible voting devices allowing people with disabilities to vote independently.

Judge Lee H. Rosenthal orders the City of Houston and the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County to improve accessibility for persons with disabilities as a part of street and traffic signal improvements under the ADA.

Baylor College of Medicine and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio participate in a clinical study comparing three treatments of type 2 diabetes in children and teens.

Candlelight Ranch at Lake Travis builds the first Universally Accessible Tree House in Texas.

Austin hosts the National Trails Symposium including an afternoon presentation about accessible trails.


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Texas adds another 500 individuals with developmental disabilities to the state’s Medicaid home and community-based services waivers. Services include respite care, minor home accessibility modifications, skilled nursing, adaptive aids and other services.

The University of Texas at Dallas’ Callier Center for Communication Disorders receives a $2.4 million federal grant to develop a diagnostic technique to determine which children with hearing impairments will benefit greater from a hearing aid or a cochlear implant.

129 Texas schools offer American Sign Language for foreign language credit.

Knowbility, Inc. sponsors three panels including information technology accessibility at South by Southwest, holds an Internet rally for state agencies and universities, and for non-profits in Houston.

2005 Governor Rick Perry urges Texans to evacuate before Hurricane Rita; the emergency

message includes sign language interpretation. He asks the Texas Association of Broadcasters to remind TV stations to caption emergency information. Texas evacuates unprecedented number of people, many with disabilities.

Texas state and local officials collaborate to assist hurricane Katrina evacuees from Louisiana, many with disabilities. Individuals receive replacement wheelchairs, walkers, Braille writers, hearing aids, eyeglasses, and assistance with personal care and other disability services.

Texas A&M University establishes new scholarship for veterans with disabilities.

The University of Texas adopts an accessibility policy for its website.

San Antonio based, Xilas Medical Incorporated conducts clinical trials on an infrared temperature monitoring device allowing individuals with diabetes to monitor feet for possible inflammation.

Texas State Fair provides sign language interpreters for specific events.

The new Dallas-Fort Worth Airport terminal displays access and new intuitive Wayfinding features which help travelers with disabilities.

H.B. No. 2819 introduced in the Texas House of Representatives, if signed into law, will make electronic and information technology readily available to state employees with disabilities and members of the public requiring accessible information.

2006 The United Nations General Assembly adopts the first convention to give rights to the

world’s 650 million people with disabilities, capping four years of negotiations.


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With a grant from the Texas Governor's Emerging Technology Fund, Hanson Robotics, Inc. of Dallas receives $1.5 million to commercialize its patent-pending robot that offers speech recognition software and a more lifelike appearance than existing robots. Initial applications of the technology will include potential prosthetic research and applications.

Secretary of State Roger Williams promotes accessible voting in the November, 2006, elections — the first national election in which counties are required to have accessible voting.

Texas wins the 2006 Council of State Government Innovations Award for its’ Money Follows the Person policies.

National Organization on Disability recognizes Austin in their Accessible America contest for disability work including efforts to increase accessible housing—Austin took third place with 28 communities entering.

Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation publicly announces fines of companies and individuals who did not comply with the Texas Architectural Barriers Act.

Texas Residential Construction Commission incorporates Easy Living and Certified Aging in Place into their Star Builder program; this will increase housing visitability.

Department of Information Resources issues rules implementing new legislation requiring state information technology and Web sites be accessible for people with disabilities.

Texas School for the Deaf and Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired celebrate 150th anniversaries. Both schools were created prior to public schools began in Texas.

America becomes the first country in the world to require all new television programs, with few exceptions, be closed captioned.

Texas hosts the National Bridges to Employment Conference for Latinos with Disabilities, and Governor’s Committee provides welcome and serves on legislative and business panel.

Texas hosts the Sunbelt Builders Show including a session on making homes visitable for people with disabilities.

Texas hosts “Sportsmen Saying Thanks,” an event honoring military personnel recovering from amputations or burns at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.

Michael Hunter, a pilot who is insulin-dependent, flies for the Texas Thunder Air Show with a cockpit equipped with a blood glucose meter and a pump that administers insulin every three minutes.

Professor David Oshinsky, from The University of Texas at Austin, wins a Pulitzer Prize after writing “Polio: An American Story” on the polio outbreak, the reaction to it by the American public, and the story of the vaccine creators.


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KUT public radio airs “Rediscovering Barbara Jordan” and includes audio clips of Barbara Jordan and information about the Governor’s Committee’s Barbara Jordan Media Awards.

The Texas Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities produces the Committee’s Scoop on Reporting about People with Disabilities training program on DVD - one of the first DVDs in the country to have an accessible audible navigation menu.

2007 The Austin Film Festival shows “Team Everest 03”, a documentary of people with

disabilities’ journey to the top of Mount Everest. This is a project of the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities.

Austin native and Pflugerville resident Clarence Swenson gets a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Mr. Swenson was a munchkin in the “Wizard of Oz.”

Governor Rick Perry announces numerous Emerging Technology grants in the fields of drug research, robotics, nanotechnology, heart disease, diabetes, cancer and medical testing.

Governor Perry announces substantial Texas Enterprise Fund grant to Scott and White for expansion of cancer research.

Governor Perry makes 32 appointments to various committees and councils involved with disability issues.

Governor Perry hosts UT Arlington’s Movin’ Mavs wheelchair basketball team at the capitol, recognizing the players for the 2006 championship.

Texas Department of State Health Services creates a new Web site for registering as an organ, tissue or eye donor.

Judge Marion T. Carson, serving the Cibolo Municipal Court, is the only totally deaf judge presiding in Texas.

Texas Children’s Hospital receives a donation to help build the world’s first Pediatric Neurological Research Institute.

Intrepid, a high-tech rehabilitation center for service members with amputations or burns opens in San Antonio.

New Fort Bliss Restoration & Resilience Center restores battle-readiness to post-deployment soldiers and their families using integrated state-of-the-art treatments.

Abilities Expo/Texas in San Antonio educates people with disabilities, senior citizens, as well as family members and caregivers about disability products and services.


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Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center in Houston uses Language Access Network, Inc, a live video interpretation service available in over 150 languages, including American Sign Language.

Matt Philips, a fifth grader from Abilene, qualifies to compete in a National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. Matt has osteogenesis imperfecta.

U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association induct Texas Coach Beverly Kearney into the Hall of Fame. Coach. Kearney sustained disabilities in an automobile accident.

Bass Concert Hall in Austin offers Disney’s “The Lion King” in American Sign Language and with audio description.

4-H in partnership with Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired receives a grant to promote environmental awareness.

Ronan Tynan M.D., an amputee and champion athlete, physician, and renowned tenor speaks and performs at Baylor University.

A Supreme Court ruling gives parents of children with disabilities the right to go to court without a lawyer to seek compliance with special education law.

Department of Justice awards a grant to SafePlace of Austin to expand its model of services for clients with disabilities who have been victims of abuse.

First Daughter Jenna Bush writes Ana’s Story: A Journey of Hope, about a woman in Latin America living with AIDS.

Texas Special Olympics athletes compete in the 2007 Summer World Games in China.

The Healthy Americans Act is introduced, proposing to require individuals to obtain private health insurance coverage through state health insurance purchasing pools and to eliminate favorable tax treatment of employer-sponsored insurance premiums. The act does not pass but is reintroduced in February of 2009.

President George W. Bush announces health care reform platform plan that would replace the tax preference for employer-sponsored insurance with a standard health care deduction. The proposal is not acted on by Congress.

2008 Governor Rick Perry appoints 43 people to Committees, Commissions, Boards and Councils

involved with disability issues.

Texan Matthew Swinton increased mobility through National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) technology that allows him to drive a minivan. The technology was


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developed to drive the lunar rovers and allows Mr. Swinton to drive using a touch computer screen.

Texan Javier Serrano received a degree in social work from Gordon College in Massachusetts. Javier mentors children and speaks to children in elementary schools each year about children with disabilities. Javier also got to toss out the first pitch this year at Fenway Park. Javier was born without hands and does not use prosthesis.

Team Perry participates in the Mighty Texas Dog Walk which benefits Texas Hearing and Service Dogs.

Kristin Pass, a high school senior at Aledo High School with Down’s syndrome is crowned prom queen.

Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) selected providers for two new Independent Living Centers. The new centers, Valley Association for Independent Living (VAIL) in Laredo and Not Without Us! In Abilene promote independent living for any person with a disability through advocacy, peer support, independent living skills training, and information and referral.

Baylor University researchers designed a custom "lift system" to help Texans with physical and mental impairments at the Heart of Texas Therapeutic Riding Center (HOTTRC).

The Captioning Key for Educational Media, a set of guidelines and preferred techniques regarding how to caption educational media, developed by the DCMP, is completely revised for the Web and published in October 2008. The document overviews how to caption educational media, including types, methods, and styles of captioning; presentation rate; text; language mechanics; sound effects; music; foreign language/dialect; and other special considerations.

Mike Weinstein, a student with autism wins the regional science contest in chemistry. He later places fourth in the statewide science competition.

The City of Houston was chosen as the winner in Accessible America Contest, held by the National Organization on Disability. The city was chosen for the award for its focus on issues affecting Houstonians with disabilities and its successful design of accessible programs, services and facilities.

President George W. Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act-Amendments Act (ADAAA) on September 26, 2008.

President Bush signs the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) on May 21, 2008.

The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 passed on October 8, 2008 which requires full parity.


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2009 The Children’s Health Insurance Program is reauthorized and expanded.

During the 81st Legislative Session, Senate Bill 2 postponed the Sunset Advisory process for the Texas Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities to 2013.

November 21, 2009, Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, GINA went into effect.

Governor Rick Perry announced an investment of $5.5 million from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (ETF) for the University of Houston to create a world-class Institute of Biomedical Research in conjunction with the Methodist Hospital Research Institute.

Governor Rick Perry bolstered the state's precautionary measures to address the H1N1 threat as a result of confirmed cases in certain parts of the state by issuing a disaster declaration for the entire state of Texas. The disaster declaration allowed the state to implement emergency protective measures and seek reimbursement under the Federal Stafford Act for protective measures associated with the state's response to this public health threat.

Governor Rick Perry announced the state will invest $750,000 in Halsa Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Houston through the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (ETF). This investment follows a $250,000 deal announced in March 2008, and will fund additional development of Halsa's treatment for obesity and diabetes.

During the 81st Legislative Session, Senate Bill 1715 which takes effect in January 1, 2010 requires, landlords of dwelling units in Texas, such as apartment complexes, will be required to purchase and install visual smoke alarms upon request for their deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind tenants. These visual smoke alarms must be installed in the bedroom where a deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind person will be sleeping.

The Justice Department announced an agreement with Gregg County, Texas, to improve access for persons with disabilities to its programs, services, activities and facilities. The agreement was reached under the Department’s Project Civic Access initiative, which helps bring localities into full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This agreement is the 163rd entered into under Project Civic Access.

Governor Rick Perry announced funding up to 12 new veterans counselors to expedite benefits claims for veterans. The Governor's Office funding will allow the Texas Veterans Commission (TVC) to reduce the number of veterans' claims pending at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regional offices in Waco and Houston.

Governor Rick Perry announced initiatives to work with the Legislature and the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to secure an additional $5 million to supplement the


http://www.hhsc.state.tx.us/index.shtml

http://www.hhsc.state.tx.us/index.shtml

http://www.governor.state.tx.us/

http://www.vba.va.gov/ro/houston/index.htm

http://www.vba.va.gov/ro/south/waco/index.htm

http://www.va.gov/

http://www.va.gov/

http://www.tvc.state.tx.us/

http://www.tvc.state.tx.us/


http://www.ada.gov/

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2000/July/409cr.htm

http://www.co.gregg.tx.us/

http://www.justice.gov/

http://www.saferhousing.org/visual.htm

http://www.legis.state.tx.us/billlookup/BillSummary.aspx?LegSess=81R&Bill=SB1715

http://www.legis.state.tx.us/

http://www.halsapharma.net/obesitydiabetesinsulinmetasyndrome.html

http://www.halsapharma.net/obesitydiabetesinsulinmetasyndrome.html

http://members.texasone.us/site/PageServer?pagename=tetf_homepage

http://www.halsapharma.net/

http://www.halsapharma.net/


http://www.fema.gov/about/stafact.shtm

http://www.fema.gov/about/stafact.shtm

http://governor.state.tx.us/news/press-release/12300/

http://governor.state.tx.us/news/press-release/12300/

http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1FLU/


http://www.methodisthealth.com/tmhs/tmhri.do?channelId=-93222

http://www.uh.edu/




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$1.2 million from the state budget to expand mental health treatment and support programs for veterans and their families.

Governor Rick Perry increased access to health care for Texans in the Rio Grande Valley with the establishment of a medical education facility in the region. The governor signed Senate Bill 98, which establishes a health science center and medical school in South Texas.

Governor Rick Perry spoke at a ribbon cutting at a home built by the Bay Area Builders Association Support Our Troops (BABASOT) for veteran Sgt. David Worswick. BABASOT helps veterans with disabilities by building accessible homes to accommodate their injuries.

Governor Rick Perry announced the state will invest $3 million in Patton Surgical Corp through the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (ETF) for the commercialization of its PassPort double shielded trocar device for use in laparoscopic surgeries.

Governor Rick Perry announced the state will invest $600,000 through the Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) in Cardiovascular Systems Inc. (CSI) for the creation of a facility in Pearland to manufacture their arterial disease treatment system, Diamondback 360. This TEF investment will create 100 jobs, with the potential to grow to 250 jobs over the next five years, and generate $23 million in capital investment.

Governor Rick Perry announced the state will invest more than $1 million in Azaya Therapeutics Inc. of San Antonio through the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (ETF) for the development of their innovative Azaya Liposome Encapsulated Radiation Therapy (ALERT) for treatment of cancerous tumors.

Governor Rick Perry announced the state will invest $6 million through the Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) in Medtronic Inc. To open a new facility for its diabetes business unit in San Antonio, creating nearly 1,400 new jobs and generating more than $23 million in capital investment.

The State of Texas settled a twelve year lawsuit regarding the $5 fee for accessible parking placards for $24 million in a class action lawsuit filed against the Department of Transportation. The settlement represents one of the largest single checks action the state has written to settle a legal claim.

The Justice Department (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against JPI Construction L.P. (JPI) and six JPI-affiliated companies in U.S. District Court in Dallas for failing to provide accessible features required by the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act at multi-family housing developments in Texas and other states.

First Lady Anita Perry , breast cancer survivors, health care advocates and medical providers held a Press Conference at the Texas Capitol to emphasize the importance of routine screening mammograms for women over the age of 40.


http://governor.state.tx.us/firstlady/

http://www.ada.gov/

http://www.justice.gov/crt/housing/title8.php

http://www.txnd.uscourts.gov/forms/index.html

http://www.jpimanagementsvcs.com/busrvcs/jpisite/home.asp


http://www.dot.state.tx.us/

http://www.dot.state.tx.us/

http://www.diabetes.org/

http://www.medtronic.com/index.htm




http://www.azayatherapeutics.com/technology/alert.php

http://www.azayatherapeutics.com/technology/alert.php


http://www.azayatherapeutics.com/

http://www.azayatherapeutics.com/


http://www.csi360.com/diamondback.php

http://www.csi360.com/




http://laparoscopysurgery.org/

http://www.pattonsurgical.com/products/passport/


http://www.pattonsurgical.com/


http://governor.state.tx.us/video/interviews/13927/

http://www.babasupport.org/index.html

http://www.babasupport.org/index.html


http://www.legis.state.tx.us/billlookup/BillSummary.aspx?LegSess=81R&Bill=SB98

http://www.valleychamber.com/aboutrgv.php


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Governor Rick Perry announced the state will invest $5 million through the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (TETF) in Mirna Therapeutics Inc. for the development and commercialization of its biopharmaceutical research in micro ribonucleic acid (RNA) treatments for cancer. Mirna is developing a cancer treatment that introduces synthetic micro RNA, or miRNA, back into tumors to trigger their death. Research has shown that the use of this therapy has reduced or eliminated cancerous tumors in mice. The treatment would focus on inflammatory, cardiovascular, ophthalmic, metabolic, neurological and infectious diseases.

The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-325), became effective on January 1, 2009.

80th Anniversary of Seeing Eye in January of 2009.

Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 (ACAA) and its implementing regulation, 14 CFR Part 382 (Part 382) became effective on May 13, 2009.

The Media Access Group at WGBH provided Closed Captioning and Live Description for PBS's President Obama’s Inaugural Address.

On January 16, 2009, the Civil Rights Division entered into a settlement agreement with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to improve access for persons with disabilities at Wal-Mart stores nationwide including Supercenters, Sam's Clubs and Neighborhood Markets.

The online travel agency Hotels.com has agreed to improve access for travelers with disabilities as part of a settlement of a lawsuit that alleged it refused to guarantee reservations for rooms that are wheelchair accessible.

Congressmen Edolphus "Ed" Towns (D-N.Y.) and Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) have proudly introduced H.R. 734, “The Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2009,” which provides protections for people who are blind.

In January, Communication Services for the Deaf (CSD) announced that it had been awarded a contract from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to implement an awareness campaign targeted at the nation's deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind consumers in regards to the Digital TV (DTV) Transition.

The U.S. Department of Labor will, for the first time, released employment and unemployment data on people with disabilities. This information will assist the nation in understanding how changing labor market conditions affect Americans with disabilities.

In its decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a diabetic employee may pursue a claim for violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Court announced its decision in the case entitled, Rohr v. Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District. The Court's decision provides a framework for understanding diabetes' impact on life and work.


http://www.diabetes.org/

http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2009/02/13/0616527.pdf

http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2009/02/13/0616527.pdf

http://www.ada.gov/

http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/

http://www.dol.gov/

http://www.dtv.gov/

http://www.fcc.gov/

http://www.c-s-d.org/

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.734:

http://www.house.gov/stearns/

http://www.house.gov/towns/

http://www.hotels.com/

http://www.walmart.com/

http://www.ada.gov/t3hilght.htm

http://www.ada.gov/walmart.htm

http://www.ada.gov/walmart.htm

http://www.justice.gov/crt/

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/inaugural-address/

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/closedcaption.html

http://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/pages/mag/

http://airconsumer.dot.gov/rules/382short.pdf

http://airconsumer.dot.gov/publications/disabled.htm

http://www.seeingeye.org/

http://www.access-board.gov/about/laws/ada-amendments.htm

http://www.mirnatherapeutics.com/

http://txed.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=tetf_homepage

http://txed.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=tetf_homepage


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Justice Department officials notified Memphis that the city had until September 2010 to update Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, a project that officials say will cost more than $40 million.

For the first time, President Obama designated Kareem Dale as a Special Assistant focused exclusively on disability policy. President Obama is the first president to have a member of their cabinet focused on disability policy.

The Office of Disability and Employment Policy (ODEP) has released a new Fact Sheet titled: “Supporting the Workplace Success of Wounded and Injured Service Members.”

The Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act was signed, which will for the first time in history; bring together the best minds across the country to collaborate on research, rehabilitation and improvement of quality of life for people living with paralysis.

Staples , the world's largest office products company, announced that it will be designing its website to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines issued by the World Wide Web consortium.

The Supreme Court ruled in Forest Grove School District v. T.A., 08-305 that parents of special education students who opt for private school instead of trying the public system cannot be barred from seeking public reimbursement for their tuition costs.

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced "Expectation + Opportunity = Full Participation" as the official theme for October's National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

The National Association of the Deaf partnered with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to make sure that important tax information reaches the deaf community.

The Accessible Technology Bill was introduced in Congress, as the "The 21st Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act of 2009," H.R. 3101.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would prohibit employers from discriminating against veterans needing time off to treat injuries incurred in or aggravated by military service. The Wounded Veteran Job Security Act (H.R. 466) would amend the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act to ensure that, if a veteran needs time off from work for treatment, he or she may use any accrued paid vacation or sick leave or take an unpaid leave of absence.

The 5th Circuit ruled that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a qualifying disability protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act. An employee provided enough evidence that her CFS substantially limited her in the major life activities of caring for herself, sleeping and thinking to warrant a jury trial. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which has long said CFS is a disability, represented the employee in the case.


http://www.cdc.gov/cfs/

http://www.eeoc.gov/


http://www.ada.gov/


http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/

http://www.dol.gov/COMPLIANCE/LAWS/COMP-USERRA.HTM

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR00466:@@@D&summ2=m&

http://www.house.gov/

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:1:./temp/~bdKPDv:@@@L&summ2=m&%7C/bss/111search.html%7C

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:1:./temp/~bdKPDv:@@@L&summ2=m&%7C/bss/111search.html%7C

http://www.irs.gov/

http://www.nad.org/

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/presidential-proclamation-national-disability-employment-awareness-month/

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/presidential-proclamation-national-disability-employment-awareness-month/

http://www.dol.gov/odep/media/press/theme.htm

http://www.dol.gov/odep/media/press/theme.htm

http://www.dol.gov/

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/08pdf/08-305.pdf

http://www.w3.org/

http://www.w3.org/

http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/

http://www.staples.com/

http://www.christopherreeve.org/site/c.ddJFKRNoFiG/b.4442889/k.EC4B/Christopher_and_Dana_Reeve_Paralysis_Act.htm

http://www.dol.gov/odep/documents/woundedandinjuredfactsheet.pdf

http://www.dol.gov/odep/

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Vice-President-Joe-Biden-Announces-Kareem-Dale-As-Special-Assistant-to-the-Preside

http://www.ada.gov/

http://www.thelibertybowlstadium.com/


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The website Disability.gov offers social media tool upgrades to complement information from 22 federal agencies on disability-related programs and services

CVS/pharmacy , the nation's largest retail pharmacy, announced it is implementing functional improvements to benefit its customers with visual impairments and other disabilities. The Company has installed tactile keypads in all CVS stores and it will enhance its website in 2009.

The “Service Dogs for Veterans Act of 2009” was sent to Congress which would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability of using service dogs for the treatment or rehabilitation of veterans with physical or mental injuries or disabilities, and for other purposes.

Lawyers with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit against Starbucks citing discrimination against an Arkansas job applicant with Multiple Sclerosis.

A statue called “The Miracle Worker,” of Helen Keller commemorating her 1887 breakthrough will be unveiled in the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall.

The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act passed and gave the federal government authority to prosecute violent hate crimes based on disability when local authorities failed to act.

On October 1, 2009 the first national study on crime against persons with disabilities was released by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), Office of Justice Programs.

On May 21, 2008, the President Bush signed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA). GINA includes two titles. Title I, which amends portions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code, addresses the use of genetic information in health insurance. Title II prohibits the use of genetic information in employment, prohibits the intentional acquisition of genetic information about applicants and employees, and imposes strict confidentiality requirements. Title II of GINA took effect on November 21, 2009.

The National Football League announced that it would implement rules to help alleviate and manage head injury, concussion and trauma.

President Obama signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on Friday, June 24, 2009 at a White House ceremony marking the anniversary of the adoption of the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act.

ConclusionIn reflection, the Lone Star State can be proud of its leaders with disabilities. Both the early pioneers with disabilities who led the Republic and the disability advocates of today shaped our


http://www.ada.gov/

http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml

http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d814a9ecd&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true

http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/11-20-09.cfm


http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=98137,00.html

http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=98137,00.html

http://www.hhs.gov/about/opdivs/phs.html

http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/health-plans/erisa.htm

http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/health-plans/erisa.htm

http://www.genome.gov/24519851

http://www.genome.gov/24519851

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/georgewbush

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/

http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/civilrights/hate.htm

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.909:

http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/nsh/

http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/nsh/keller.cfm

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/multiplesclerosis.html



http://www.eeoc.gov/

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.+3885:

http://www1.va.gov/opa/bios/secretary.asp

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.1495.IS:

http://info.cvscaremark.com/newsroom/press-releases/cvspharmacy-enhancing-accessibility-visually-impaired-its-web-site-and-store

http://www.cvs.com/

http://www.disability.gov/

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state for all Texans, including persons with disabilities. If we continue the rate of progress seen in the last quarter century, Texans with disabilities will become more equal participants in our great state. We have certainly moved from isolation to participation in education, employment, public service, housing and transportation. The next century will magnify this participation.

Footnote: Not all history is positive as noted by events throughout the timeline; however it is necessary to be included in our ongoing mission for equal and full access to lives of independence, self-determination and productivity. If non-people first language is used or derogatory terms by today’s vernacular, it is done so in the context of the date and language used at that time.

Last revised: 11/19/2009


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